Cooling module for vehicle

ABSTRACT

A cooling module for a vehicle may include a main radiator, a sub-radiator, a water-cooled condenser and an air-cooled condenser. The main radiator may be disposed at a front region of an engine room and supplies cooled cooling water to an engine. The sub-radiator may be disposed substantially in parallel with the main radiator and in front of the main radiator, have header tanks at both sides and supply the cooled cooling water to an intercooler or electric components. The water-cooled condenser may be disposed in one of the header tanks and primarily condenses a refrigerant by using the cooling water as a heat exchange medium. The air-cooled condenser may be in fluidic communication with the water-cooled condenser to be introduced with the refrigerant condensed in the water-cooled condenser and may be disposed in front of the sub-radiator to secondarily condense the refrigerant.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority of Korean Patent ApplicationNumber 10-2013-0154967 filed on Dec. 12, 2013, the entire contents ofwhich application are incorporated herein for all purposes by thisreference.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to a cooling module for a vehicle, andmore particularly, to a cooling module for a vehicle in which acondenser condensing a refrigerant is configured to be divided into anair-cooled type and a water-cooled type so as to embed the water-cooledcondenser in a radiator and a cooling water flow type of the radiator ischanged, thereby improving the entire cooling performance.

2. Description of Related Art

Generally, an air conditioner system of a vehicle maintains an indoortemperature of a vehicle at an appropriate temperature independent of achange in external temperature to be able to maintain a comfortableindoor environment.

Recently, as energy efficiency and a problem of environmental pollutionreceive attention day by day, a development of anenvironmentally-friendly vehicle which may substantially replace aninternal combustion engine vehicle has been required. Theenvironmentally-friendly vehicle is divided into an electric vehiclewhich is generally driven by using a fuel cell or electricity as a powersource and a hybrid vehicle which is driven by using an engine and anelectrical battery as a power source.

Herein, the hybrid vehicle drives a motor using electricity suppliedfrom the fuel cell or the electrical battery, along with the enginedriven with general fuel, to generate a driving torque. In this case,heat generated from the fuel cell or the battery and the motor needs tobe effectively removed to secure the performance of the motor.

Therefore, a cooling system according to the related art, which isequipped in the hybrid vehicle, is configured to include a radiator foran engine which supplies cooling water to the engine, an electricradiator which supplies the cooling water to electric components such asan inverter and a motor, a cooling module which includes a condenser anda cooling fan for cooling a refrigerant of an air conditioner system ona front surface of the vehicle, a cooling line which mutually connectsthe cooling module to a driving system, a cooling pump which circulatesthe cooling water, and a reservoir tank which stores the cooling water.

Herein, in a cooling module for a vehicle according to the related art,when the water-cooled condenser is used, the cooling water and therefrigerant exchange heat, and thus an outlet refrigerant temperature ofthe condenser is increased, thereby increasing the required power.

Further, compared to the air-cooled type condenser, the water-cooledcondenser has a larger heat capacity of cooling water, such that thewater-cooled condenser has a low condensing pressure but reduces atemperature difference between the cooling water and the refrigerant andhas a cooling water temperature higher than external air, such that itis difficult for the water-cooled condenser to form sub-cool, therebyreducing the overall cooling performance of the air conditioner system.

To prevent this, the large-capacity cooling fan and radiator arerequired, which may have a bad effect on a layout in a narrow engineroom and the overall weight and costs of the vehicle.

Further, in order to mount the water-cooled condenser in the narrowengine room, the water-cooled condenser needs to be mounted at arearward region of a fender or a rearward region of the engine room, andtherefore ensuring space is difficult, such that a connecting pipe and adisposition layout may be complicated and assembling performance andmounting performance may deteriorate, and thermal damage to the engineroom may cause a reduction in performance, thereby leading to anincrease in power consumption of the compressor due to an increase inflow resistance of a refrigerant.

Further, in the case of the environmentally-friendly vehicle to whichthe motor, electrically driven components, a stack, and the like areapplied, the cooling water cools each component and then is introducedinto the condenser, and thus the temperature thereof is increased, suchthat a condensed amount of refrigerant may be more reduced.

Further, it is difficult to secure a space to mount the cooling modulebetween the narrow engine room and a bumper, heat capacities andoperation temperatures of the radiator and the air conditioner condenserare differently formed, such that at the time of uniform cooling by thecooling fan and the traveling wind, the problems of the reduction in thecooling performance and the indoor cooling efficiency of the vehicle dueto the occurrence of the difference in cooling performance, thereduction in a traveling distance due to the increase in use power ofthe cooling fan and a water pump, and the like may occur.

The information disclosed in this Background section is only forenhancement of understanding of the general background of the inventionand should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestionthat this information forms the prior art already known to a personskilled in the art.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention has been made in an effort to provide a coolingmodule for a vehicle in which a condenser condensing a refrigerant isconfigured to be divided into an air-cooled type and a water-cooled typeso as to embed the water-cooled condenser in a radiator and a coolingwater flow of the radiator embedding the water-cooled condenser isapplied in a U-turn flow type, thereby increasing a heat radiatingamount with respect to the increase in flow resistance of the coolingwater to improve the overall cooling performance and reducing acondensing pressure and improving condensing performance at the time ofcondensing the refrigerant to improve cooling performance.

Further, the present invention has been made in an effort to provide acooling module for a vehicle in which a radiator is disposed dependingon heat capacity and a water-cooled condenser and an air-cooledcondenser are mounted, thereby simplifying a package to improve spaceavailability and improving cooling performing without increasingcapacity to save manufacturing costs.

Various aspects of the present invention provide a cooling module for avehicle, including: a main radiator which is disposed at a front regionof an engine room with respect to a longitudinal direction of thevehicle, and supplies cooled cooling water to an engine through heatexchange with external air; a sub-radiator which is disposedsubstantially in parallel with the main radiator and in front of themain radiator, has header tanks at both sides of the sub-radiator andsupplies the cooled cooling water to an intercooler or one or moreelectric components through heat exchange with the external air, whereinone header tank includes an inlet into which cooling water is introducedand an outlet from which the cooling water is discharged, and adiaphragm is disposed inside the sub-radiator and prevents the coolingwater introduced through the inlet and discharged through the outletfrom being mixed; a water-cooled condenser which is disposed in theother header tank of the header tanks and primarily condenses arefrigerant by using the cooling water as a heat exchange medium; and anair-cooled condenser which is in fluidic communication with thewater-cooled condenser to be introduced with the refrigerant condensedin the water-cooled condenser, and is disposed in front of thesub-radiator to secondarily condense the refrigerant by heat exchangewith the external air.

The position of the diaphragm may be changed between the inlet and theoutlet depending on a mounting position of the air-cooled condenser anda state of the refrigerant passing through the air-cooled condenser. Theheader tanks may include a first header tank in which the inlet and theoutlet are formed and a second header tank in which the water-cooledcondenser is disposed. The inlet and the outlet may be formed at one endand the other end of the first header tank, respectively, and thediaphragm may be disposed therebetween.

The sub-radiator may primarily cool the cooling water introduced throughthe inlet by heat exchange with the external air while flowing thecooling water from a portion of the first header tank partitioned by thediaphragm to the second heater tank, secondarily cool the cooling waterby heat exchange with the external air while flowing the cooling waterfrom the second header tank to a portion of the first header tank wherethe outlet is disposed, and discharge the cooled cooling water throughthe outlet. The sub-radiator may be configured to flow the cooling waterin a U-turn pattern from the first header tank to the second header tankand back to the first header tank.

The main radiator and/or the sub-radiator may be formed of a fin-tubetype heat exchanger in which inner sides facing each other include aplurality of tubes and heat radiating fins provided between therespective tubes.

The air-cooled condenser may be configured of a fin-tube type heatexchanger in which a plurality of refrigerant pipes are disposed atsubstantially equal distances and at least one heat radiating fin isprovided between or among the refrigerant pipes. The air-cooledcondenser may be divided and partitioned in a height direction of theair-cooled condenser to sequentially condense the refrigerant suppliedfrom the water-cooled condenser for each refrigerant state. Theair-cooled condenser may have one side equipped with a receiver dryerwhich separates a gaseous refrigerant remaining in the refrigerantintroduced from the water-cooled condenser, and may be in fluidiccommunication with the water-cooled condenser through the receiverdryer.

A cooling fan may be mounted at rear of the main radiator with respectto the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.

The water-cooled condenser may include: a condensing part that includesat least two plates spaced apart from each other to form at least onerefrigerant passage for flowing the refrigerant, wherein a refrigerantpassage in the at least one refrigerant passage is formed by couplingtwo adjacent plates with each other; a refrigerant inlet which is formedat one end of the condensing part in a longitudinal direction of thecondensing part, and protrudes outside the corresponding header tank ofthe sub-radiator; and a refrigerant outlet which is formed at the otherend of the condensing part, and protrudes outside the correspondingheader tank, and is connected with the air-cooled condenser.

A plate in a pair of two plates disposed at one side may have aplurality of protrusions formed at an outer side thereof at a setinterval, and may be coupled with an outer side of a plate in anadjacent pair of two plates disposed at the other side through each ofthe protrusions contacting the outer side of the plate in the adjacentpair. The plate in the adjacent pair of two plates disposed at the otherside may have heat radiating protrusions that protrude toward an outsideat both sides of the plate in a width direction of the condensing part.

The header tanks may include a first header tank which is provided withthe inlet and the outlet and partitioned by the diaphragm, and a secondheader tank which is in fluidic communication with the first headertank, and the water-cooled condenser may be disposed inside a portion ofthe first header tank where the outlet is disposed.

The sub-radiator may supply the cooled cooling water to the intercoolerwhen the sub-radiator is applied to an internal combustion enginevehicle and supply the cooled cooling water to the one or more electriccomponents when the sub-radiator is applied to a hybrid vehicle.

As described above, according to the cooling module for a vehicle of thepresent invention, the condenser condensing a refrigerant may beconfigured to be divided into the air-cooled type and the water-cooledtype so as to embed the water-cooled condenser in the radiator and thecooling water flow of the radiator embedding the water-cooled condenseris applied in the U-turn flow type, thereby increasing the heatradiating amount with respect to the increase in flow resistance or flowpath of the cooling water to improve the overall cooling performance,and the refrigerant passing through the water-cooled condenser may beintroduced again into the air-cooled condenser to reduce the condensingpressure of the refrigerant and improve the condensing performance,thereby improving the cooling performance.

Further, both the water-cooled condenser and the air-cooled condenserare mounted to simplify the layout of the pipe and the package, therebyminimizing the mounting space and improving the space availability ofthe vehicle engine room.

In addition, the cooling performance may be improved without increasingthe capacity of the radiator and the cooling fan to save themanufacturing costs and the layout of the pipe may be simplified toreduce the flow resistance of the working fluids and increase thepassing flux.

Moreover, the water-cooled condenser and the air-cooled condenser aresimultaneously applied to reduce the condensing pressure of therefrigerant and improve the condensing performance, thereby reducing ofthe required oil of the compressor and improving the overall fuelefficiency of the vehicle.

The methods and apparatuses of the present invention have other featuresand advantages which will be apparent from or are set forth in moredetail in the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, andthe following Detailed Description, which together serve to explaincertain principles of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary cooling module for avehicle according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of an exemplary cooling module for a vehicleaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a back view of an exemplary cooling module for a vehicleaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an exemplary cooling module for a vehicleaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an exemplary water-cooled condenserapplied to an exemplary cooling module for a vehicle according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 5.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are block diagrams of another exemplary cooling module fora vehicle according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of thepresent invention(s), examples of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and described below. While the invention(s) willbe described in conjunction with exemplary embodiments, it will beunderstood that present description is not intended to limit theinvention(s) to those exemplary embodiments. On the contrary, theinvention(s) is/are intended to cover not only the exemplaryembodiments, but also various alternatives, modifications, equivalentsand other embodiments, which may be included within the spirit and scopeof the invention as defined by the appended claims.

In order to clearly describe the present invention, portions that arenot connected with the description will be omitted. Like referencenumerals designate like elements throughout the specification.

In addition, the size and thickness of each configuration shown in thedrawings are arbitrarily shown for understanding and ease ofdescription, but the present invention is not limited thereto and in thedrawings, the thickness of layers, films, panels, regions, etc., areexaggerated for clarity.

Throughout the present specification, unless explicitly described to thecontrary, “comprising” any components will be understood to imply theinclusion of other elements rather than the exclusion of any otherelements.

FIG. 1 is a projected perspective view of a cooling module for a vehicleaccording to various embodiments of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3are a front view and a back view of the cooling module for a vehicleaccording to various embodiments of the present invention, FIG. 4 is aplan view of the cooling module for a vehicle according to variousembodiments of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of awater-cooled condenser applied to the cooling module for a vehicleaccording to various embodiments of the present invention, and FIG. 6 isa cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 5.

Referring to the drawings, according to a cooling module 100 for avehicle according to various embodiments of the present invention,condensers 130 and 140 condensing a refrigerant are configured to bedivided into an air-cooled type and a water-cooled type so as to embedthe water-cooled condenser 130 in a radiator and a cooling water flow ofthe radiator embedding the water-cooled condenser 130 is applied in aU-turn flow type, thereby increasing a heat radiating amount withrespect to the increase in flow resistance of the cooling water toimprove the overall cooling performance and reducing a condensingpressure and improving condensing performance at the time of condensingthe refrigerant to improve cooling performance.

Further, in the cooling module 100 for a vehicle according to variousembodiments of the present invention, radiators 110 and 120 are disposeddepending on their heat capacities, and both the water-cooled condenser130 and the air-cooled condenser 140 are mounted, thereby simplifying apackage to improve space availability and improving cooling performingwithout increasing the capacity to save manufacturing costs.

To this end, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4, the cooling module 100 fora vehicle according to various embodiments of the present inventionincludes the main radiator 110, the sub-radiator 120, the water-cooledcondenser 130, and the air-cooled condenser 140.

First, the main radiator 110 is disposed at a forward region of anengine room and at a rear of the sub-radiator 120, with respect to thelongitudinal direction of the vehicle, and supplies cooled cooling waterto an engine through heat exchange with external air.

A cooling fan 111 is mounted at a rear of the main radiator 110, withrespect to the length direction of the vehicle, and blows wind to themain radiator 110 along with external air introduced while driving,thereby more efficiently cooling the cooling water.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, thesub-radiator 120 is disposed in parallel or substantially in parallelwith the main radiator 110 in front of the main radiator 110 to supplythe cooled cooling water to an intercooler or electric componentsthrough the heat exchange with external air.

That is, when the sub-radiator 120 is applied to an internal combustionengine vehicle, the sub-radiator 120 may supply the cooled cooling waterto the intercooler, and when the sub-radiator 120 is applied to a hybridvehicle, the sub-radiator 120 may supply the cooled cooling water to theelectric components.

The sub-radiator 120 has one header tank 121 of header tanks 121 at bothsides of the sub-radiator 120, which includes an inlet 123 into whichcooling water is introduced, and an outlet 125 from which the coolingwater is discharged, and a diaphragm 127 which is disposed inside thesub-radiator 120 and prevents the cooling water introduced anddischarged through the inlet 123 and the outlet 125 from being mixed.

In this configuration, the header tank 121 may be configured to includea first header tank 121 a in which the inlet 123 and the outlet 125 areformed, and a second header tank 121 b in which the water-cooledcondenser 130 is provided.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, the inlet 123and the outlet 125 may be formed at one end and the other end of thefirst header tank 121 a, respectively, having the diaphragm 127 disposedtherebetween.

In this configuration, a position of the diaphragm 127 may be changedbetween the inlet 123 and the outlet 125 depending on a mountingposition of the air-cooled condenser 140 and a state of a refrigerantpassing through the air-cooled condenser 140.

The sub-radiator 120 configured as described above primarily cools thecooling water introduced through the inlet 123 by heat exchange withexternal air while moving the cooling water from the inside of the firstheader tank 121 a partitioned by the diaphragm 127 to the second heatertank 121 b.

Next, the sub-radiator 120 secondarily cools the cooling water by heatexchange with the external air while moving the cooling water from thesecond header tank 121 b to the first header tank 121 a in which theoutlet 125 is disposed, and then discharges the cooled cooling waterthrough the outlet 125.

The sub-radiator 120 may be formed in a U-turn flow type which moves thecooling water from the first header tank 121 a via the second headertank 121 b and then to the first header tank 121 a again to U-turn theflow of the cooling water.

Meanwhile, the main radiator 110 and the sub-radiator 120, which areconfigured as described above, may be formed of a fin-tube type heatexchanger in which inner sides facing each other include a plurality oftubes T and heat radiating fins P provided between the respective tubesT.

That is, the main radiator 110 and the sub-radiator 120 are the fin-tubetype heat exchanger, and exchanges heat between the introduced coolingwater with the external air introduced into the heat radiating fins Pmounted between the respective tubes T while moving the cooling waterthrough the respective tubes T, thereby cooling the cooling water.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, thewater-cooled condenser 130 is configured by stacking a plurality ofplates 133 in the other header tank 121 of the header tanks 121 at bothsides of the sub-radiator 120, and primarily condenses the a refrigerantby using the cooling water as a heat exchange medium.

That is, as described above, the water-cooled condenser 130 is mountedin the second header tank 121 b, in which the inlet 123 and the outlet125 are not formed, among the first and second header tanks 121 a and121 b.

In this configuration, the water-cooled condenser 130 is configured toinclude a condensing part 132, a refrigerant inlet 137, and arefrigerant outlet 139, which will be described below in more detail.

First, in the condensing part 132, one refrigerant passage 135, throughwhich the refrigerant moves, is formed by coupling two plates 133 witheach other, and at least two of the two plates 133, which are coupledwith each other, are provided so that at least one refrigerant passage135 is formed, and are disposed to be spaced apart from each other.

In this configuration, the condensing part 132 may be configured bymutually stacking a plurality of pairs such as seven pairs of two plates133, which are coupled with each other, so that the refrigerant passage135 formed through the two plates 133, which are coupled with eachother, becomes seven columns.

The refrigerant inlet 137 is formed at one end of the condensing part132 in a longitudinal direction of the condensing part 132, protrudesoutside the second header tank 121 b of the sub-radiator 120 to beconnected to a refrigerant pipe 131, and introduces the refrigerant intothe condensing part 132 through the refrigerant pipe 131.

Further, the refrigerant outlet 139 is formed at the other end of thecondensing part 132, corresponding to the refrigerant inlet 137,protrudes outside the second header tank 121 b, and is connected withthe air-cooled condenser 140 through the refrigerant pipe 131.

In this configuration, the plate 133 of the two plates 133 that isdisposed at one side has a plurality of protrusions 134, which is formedon one surface at a set interval, and may be coupled with the outer sideof the plate 133 disposed at the other side through each of theprotrusions 134, while contacting the outer side of the plate 133.

That is, according to various embodiments of the present invention, eachof the protrusions 134 is formed on an upper surface of the plate 133disposed at the upper portion on the basis of the drawings, and theplate 133 is coupled with the plate 133 disposed at the lower portionthrough the protrusions 134, such that the two plates 133, which arecoupled with each other, may be more stably coupled with each other.

Further, when the cooling water introduced into the second header tank121 b may flow between the spaces formed through each of the protrusions134, the flow of the cooling water through each of the protrusions 134is continuously changed, such that the heat exchange of the coolingwater and the refrigerant may be more easily performed and the condensedrate of the refrigerant may be increased.

Meanwhile, according to various embodiments of the present invention,the plate 133 of the two plates 133 that is disposed at the other sidemay have heat radiating protrusions 136, which integrally ormonolithically protrude toward the outside, at both sides of the plate133 in a width direction of the condensing part 132.

The heat radiating protrusion 136 smoothly radiates heat of therefrigerant passing through the refrigerant passage 135 of thewater-cooled condenser 130 when heat exchange with the cooling water inthe second header tank 121 b.

In the water-cooled condenser 130 configured as described above, whenthe cooling water flows in the space formed between the two plates 133,each of the protrusions 134 serves as a flow resistance to increase acontact area with the plate 133 so as to more efficiently exchange heatbetween the refrigerant and the cooling water passing through therefrigerant passage 135, thereby improving the condensing efficiency ofthe refrigerant.

Further, the heat radiating protrusions 136 may smoothly radiate theheat, which is transferred from the refrigerant passing through therefrigerant passage 135, to the cooling water introduced into the secondheader tank 121 b.

Further, the air-cooled condenser 140 is interconnected with thewater-cooled condenser 130 through the refrigerant pipe 131 to beintroduced with the primarily condensed refrigerant in the water-cooledcondenser 130, and is disposed in front of the sub-radiator 120 tosecondarily condense the refrigerant by heat exchange with the externalair.

Herein, the air-cooled condenser 140 may be mounted in front of thesub-radiator 120 in a longitudinal direction and may be configured of afin-tube type heat exchanger in which a plurality of refrigerant pipes141 is disposed at equal or substantially equal distances and the heatradiating fin P is mounted between or among the respective refrigerantpipes 141.

The air-cooled condenser 140 may be divided and partitioned in a heightdirection to sequentially condense the refrigerant supplied from thewater-cooled condenser 130 for each refrigerant state.

For example, the air-cooled condenser 140 may be divided and partitionedinto three stages or two stages, and when the air-cooled condenser 140is divided into three stages, the air-cooled condenser 140 cools andcondenses a superheated vapor refrigerant among the refrigerantssupplied from the water-cooled condenser 130 at the upper portionthereof, cools and condenses a wet vapor refrigerant among the condensedrefrigerants at the center portion thereof, and finally supercools andcondenses a liquid refrigerant at the lower portion thereof.

Further, when the air-cooled condenser 140 is divided and partitionedinto the two stages, the air-cooled condenser 140 condenses the wetvapor refrigerant including in the superheated vapor refrigerant in theregion including the upper portion and the center portion thereof, andcondenses the refrigerant at the lower portion thereof that is dividedinto a sub-cool refrigerant region which supercools and condenses theliquid refrigerant.

The air-cooled condenser 140 configured as described above has one sideequipped with a receiver dryer 143 which separates a gaseous refrigerantincluded in the refrigerant introduced through the refrigerant pipe 131from the water-cooled condenser 130, and may be interconnected with thewater-cooled condenser 130 through the receiver dryer 143.

That is, the air-cooled condenser 140 allows the refrigerant, which isintroduced from the water-cooled condenser 130, to pass through thereceiver dryer 143 and then be introduced and condensed by heat exchangewith the external air, such that at the time of secondarily condensingthe refrigerant, the refrigerant is condensed in the state in which agaseous refrigerant is removed, thereby increasing the condensingefficiency.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are block diagrams of a cooling module for a vehicleaccording to various other embodiments of the present invention.

First, referring to FIG. 7, in a cooling module 200 for a vehicleaccording to various other embodiments of the present invention, adiaphragm 227 included in a first header tank 221 a is disposedcorresponding to the sub-cool refrigerant region disposed at the lowerportion of an air-cooled condenser 240.

Therefore, the diaphragm 227 introduces heated air passing through theupper portion of the sub-cool refrigerant region of the air-cooledcondenser 240 into the entire region of a sub-radiator 220 to preventthe heat radiating performance of the sub-radiator 220 fromdeteriorating.

Further, when the cooling water cooled by being introduced into a secondheader tank 221 b is additionally cooled by heat exchange with theexternal air while flowing in the first header tank 221 a again, thediaphragm 227 introduces external air, which is less heated than theexternal air heated while passing through the upper portion of thesub-cool refrigerant region of the air-cooled condenser 240 and has arelatively lower temperature, to prevent the cooling efficiency of thecooling water from deteriorating.

Further, referring to FIG. 8, in a cooling module 300 for a vehicleaccording to various other embodiments of the present invention, awater-cooled condenser 330 is partitioned from a first header tank 321 aby a diaphragm 327 to be disposed in the inside thereof at which anoutlet 325 is disposed.

Therefore, the water-cooled condenser 330 has a more reduced size thanthe case in which the water-cooled condenser 330 is disposed in a secondheader tank 321 b without the diaphragm 327, thereby reducing a heatcapacity, but may condense the refrigerant by heat exchange with thelow-temperature cooled cooling water which is discharged through theoutlet 325, thereby securing the equivalent performance in spite of thereduced size.

That is, in the cooling module 300 for a vehicle according to variousother embodiments of the present invention, even though the size of thewater-cooled condenser 330 is reduced, the equivalent condensingperformance may be secured, thereby reducing the manufacturing costs andthe entire weight.

Therefore, the cooling modules 100, 200, and 300 for a vehicle accordingto the present exemplary embodiments move the cooling water in thesub-radiators 120, 220, and 320 in a U-turn flow type to cool thecooling water by heat exchange with the external air twice, therebyimproving the heat radiating performance.

Further, the water-cooled condensers 130, 230, and 330 cools therefrigerant by using the cooling water, which has a larger heat transfercoefficient than the external air, as a heat exchange medium, therebyreducing the condensing pressure of the refrigerant generated from theinside thereof.

Further, the air-cooled condensers 140, 240, and 340 receive only theliquid refrigerant through the receiver dryers 143, 243, and 343 whilethe condensed refrigerant passing through the water-cooled condensers130, 230, and 330 and may condense the supplied liquid refrigerant byheat exchange with the external air while passing through each regiondivided and partitioned for each refrigerant state to enable moreefficient condensation.

Therefore, the air-cooled condensers 140, 240, and 340 may make thetemperature difference between the external air and the refrigerantlarge to easily form the sub-cool and reduce the heat capacities of therefrigerant pipes 131, 231, and 331.

Therefore, when adopting the cooling module 100 for a vehicle accordingto various embodiments of the present invention, which is configured asdescribed above, the condensers 130 and 140 condensing a refrigerant areconfigured to be divided into the air-cooled type and the water-cooledtype so as to embed the water-cooled condenser 130 in the sub-radiator120 and apply the cooling water flow of the sub-radiator 120 embeddingthe water-cooled condenser 130 in the U-turn flow type, therebyincreasing the heat radiating amount with respect to the increase inflow resistance of the cooling water to improve the overall coolingperformance, and the refrigerant passing through the water-cooledcondenser 130 is introduced again into the air-cooled condenser 140 toreduce the condensing pressure of the refrigerant and improve thecondensing performance of the refrigerant, thereby improving the coolingperformance.

Further, the water-cooled condenser 130 is mounted in the sub-radiator120 to simplify the layout of the refrigerant pipe 131 and simplify thepackage, thereby minimizing the mounting space and improving the spaceavailability of the vehicle engine room.

In addition, the cooling performance may be improved without increasingthe capacity of the radiators 110 and 120 and the cooling fan 111 tosave the manufacturing costs, and the layout of the pipe may besimplified to reduce the flow resistance of the working fluids andincrease the passing flux.

Moreover, the water-cooled condenser 130 and the air-cooled condenser140 are simultaneously applied to reduce the condensing pressure of therefrigerant and improve the condensing performance, thereby reducing ofthe required oil of the compressor and improving the overall fuelefficiency of the vehicle.

For convenience in explanation and accurate definition in the appendedclaims, the terms “upper” or “lower”, “front” or “rear”, “inside” or“outside”, and etc. are used to describe features of the exemplaryembodiments with reference to the positions of such features asdisplayed in the figures.

The foregoing descriptions of specific exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention have been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theinvention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously manymodifications and variations are possible in light of the aboveteachings. The exemplary embodiments were chosen and described in orderto explain certain principles of the invention and their practicalapplication, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to make andutilize various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, as wellas various alternatives and modifications thereof. It is intended thatthe scope of the invention be defined by the Claims appended hereto andtheir equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cooling module for a vehicle, comprising: a main radiator which is disposed at a front region of an engine room with respect to a longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and supplies cooled cooling water to an engine through heat exchange with external air; a sub-radiator which is disposed substantially in parallel with the main radiator and in front of the main radiator, has header tanks at both sides of the sub-radiator and supplies the cooled cooling water to an intercooler or one or more electric components through heat exchange with the external air, wherein one header tank includes an inlet into which cooling water is introduced and an outlet from which the cooling water is discharged, and a diaphragm is disposed inside the sub-radiator and prevents the cooling water introduced through the inlet and discharged through the outlet from being mixed; a water-cooled condenser which is disposed in the other header tank of the header tanks and primarily condenses a refrigerant by using the cooling water as a heat exchange medium; and an air-cooled condenser which is in fluidic communication with the water-cooled condenser to be introduced with the refrigerant condensed in the water-cooled condenser, and is disposed in front of the sub-radiator to secondarily condense the refrigerant by heat exchange with the external air.
 2. The cooling module for a vehicle of claim 1, wherein a position of the diaphragm is changed between the inlet and the outlet depending on a mounting position of the air-cooled condenser and a state of the refrigerant passing through the air-cooled condenser.
 3. The cooling module for a vehicle of claim 1, wherein the header tanks include a first header tank in which the inlet and the outlet are formed and a second header tank in which the water-cooled condenser is disposed.
 4. The cooling module for a vehicle of claim 3, wherein the inlet and the outlet are formed at one end and the other end of the first header tank, respectively, and the diaphragm is disposed therebetween.
 5. The cooling module for a vehicle of claim 3, wherein the sub-radiator primarily cools the cooling water introduced through the inlet by heat exchange with the external air while flowing the cooling water from a portion of the first header tank partitioned by the diaphragm to the second heater tank, secondarily cools the cooling water by heat exchange with the external air while flowing the cooling water from the second header tank to a portion of the first header tank where the outlet is disposed, and discharges the cooled cooling water through the outlet.
 6. The cooling module for a vehicle of claim 3, wherein the sub-radiator is configured to flow the cooling water in a U-turn pattern from the first header tank to the second header tank and back to the first header tank.
 7. The cooling module for a vehicle of claim 1, wherein the main radiator and/or the sub-radiator are formed of a fin-tube type heat exchanger in which inner sides facing each other include a plurality of tubes and heat radiating fins provided between the respective tubes.
 8. The cooling module for a vehicle of claim 1, wherein the air-cooled condenser is configured of a fin-tube type heat exchanger in which a plurality of refrigerant pipes are disposed at substantially equal distances and at least one heat radiating fin is provided between or among the refrigerant pipes.
 9. The cooling module for a vehicle of claim 1, wherein the air-cooled condenser is divided and partitioned in a height direction of the air-cooled condenser to sequentially condense the refrigerant supplied from the water-cooled condenser for each refrigerant state.
 10. The cooling module for a vehicle of claim 1, wherein the air-cooled condenser has one side equipped with a receiver dryer which separates a gaseous refrigerant remaining in the refrigerant introduced from the water-cooled condenser, and is in fluidic communication with the water-cooled condenser through the receiver dryer.
 11. The cooling module for a vehicle of claim 1, wherein the main radiator has a cooling fan mounted at rear of the main radiator with respect to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.
 12. The cooling module for a vehicle of claim 1, wherein the water-cooled condenser includes: a condensing part that includes at least two plates spaced apart from each other to form at least one refrigerant passage for flowing the refrigerant, wherein a refrigerant passage in the at least one refrigerant passage is formed by coupling two adjacent plates with each other; a refrigerant inlet which is formed at one end of the condensing part in a longitudinal direction of the condensing part, and protrudes outside the corresponding header tank of the sub-radiator; and a refrigerant outlet which is formed at the other end of the condensing part, and protrudes outside the corresponding header tank, and is connected with the air-cooled condenser.
 13. The cooling module for a vehicle of claim 12, wherein a plate in a pair of two plates disposed at one side has a plurality of protrusions formed at an outer side thereof at a set interval, and is coupled with an outer side of a plate in an adjacent pair of two plates disposed at the other side through each of the protrusions contacting the outer side of the plate in the adjacent pair.
 14. The cooling module for a vehicle of claim 13, wherein the plate in the adjacent pair of two plates disposed at the other side has heat radiating protrusions that protrude toward an outside at both sides of the plate in a width direction of the condensing part.
 15. The cooling module for a vehicle of claim 1, wherein: the header tanks include a first header tank which is provided with the inlet and the outlet and partitioned by the diaphragm, and a second header tank which is in fluidic communication with the first header tank, and the water-cooled condenser is disposed inside a portion of the first header tank where the outlet is disposed.
 16. The cooling module for a vehicle of claim 1, wherein the sub-radiator supplies the cooled cooling water to the intercooler when the sub-radiator is applied to an internal combustion engine vehicle and supplies the cooled cooling water to the one or more electric components when the sub-radiator is applied to a hybrid vehicle. 